


Night Howls

by MakingPoetry



Series: Albtraum 2.0 [11]
Category: The Covenant (2006)
Genre: Blood and Violence, Death, Gen, M/M, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27513253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakingPoetry/pseuds/MakingPoetry
Summary: Chase brings Tyler out to the woods to see fireflies. While they're there, they're attacked by a creature.
Relationships: Chase Collins/Tyler Simms, Reid Garwin/Tyler Simms
Series: Albtraum 2.0 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813285
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Night Howls

"What are we doing out here?" Tyler asked.

For a shocking change, Chase had actually called him instead of turning up uninvited in his dorm room, ignoring a locked door for the umpteenth time. There was a distinct chill in the air, especially out in the woods where they currently stood, and Tyler was glad he had a warm jacket.

"Use your _eyes_ ," Chase told him, though not entirely unkindly.

"I _am_ ," Tyler protested, crossing his arms over his chest and looking around.

The woods were dark and there was nothing to see until there _was_. Little lights blinked into existence, flashing here and there between the trees, drifting lazily. Tyler blinked, squinting at them, then looked over at Chase. Then he looked at the lights. Then back at Chase.

"Are those-" he started, uncrossing his arms to point to the closest of the flickering lights. "It's too cold for fireflies."

"Not for these," Chase said, holding out a hand and letting a firefly land on his fingers. 

It looked like a normal insect, but Chase _must_ have created them because they shouldn't have been around right now.

"You called me all the way out here for fireflies?" Tyler said, a little unsure.

"Would you have been happy if I filled your dorm room with them instead?"

Tyler wrinkled his nose. He liked to think that hadn't been an option at all and that Chase wouldn't fill his or anyone's dorm room with insects or anything else--again. Once had been enough, and it hadn't even happened to Tyler.

"Okay." Tyler took a deep breath. "So we're out here to see the fireflies. They're nice."

Chase laughed. "They're atmospheric," he said. Brushing the firefly off his hand, he leaned in to kiss Tyler. "And I heard you like them."

That explained everything, then. Chase was trying to impress him with magically created fireflies. "You're not wrong." He didn't know who had told Chase about this, but it was strangely sweet that Chase would go through that kind of effort for him.

It was still weird to him to think of Chase as _sweet_ considering everything Tyler knew about him and had seen him do. Despite that, Chase was sweet pretty often when it was just the two of them, even though he still managed to be sarcastic at the same time.

Chase had just kissed him a second time when Tyler heard something _crack_ off in the woods and jerked his head back. "Did you hear that?"

"It's just some animals," Chase said dismissively, gently brushing a firefly out of Tyler's hair.

"I don't know..." Tyler said, unsure, but didn't stop Chase from kissing him again.

The next unsettling noise in the woods nearby had _Chase_ pulling back, frowning at the darkness. Tyler opened his mouth to start telling Chase he _knew_ something was weird when a howl cut through the silence. The hair on Tyler's arms and the back of his neck stood up and goosebumps prickled across his skin. They didn't _have_ wolves here, but he didn't know what else it could be. Until something large and furry barreled out of the woods to their left and came at them, snarling. Tyler barely had time to get a glimpse of sharp claws before Chase shoved him out of the way.

Tyler hit the ground hard, knocking the air from his lungs for a moment. He looked up to see the creature slam into Chase, knocking him off his feet. 

"Chase!" 

Scrambling upright, Tyler took a second to process the scene in front of him, staring wide-eyed at the creature attacking Chase. Then his eyes burned black and he Used, shoving the creature as hard as he could. It toppled to the side with another snarl, rolling a few times before coming to a stop and getting to its feet. Its attention was now on Tyler as it crouched low, lips pulled back from sharp teeth. Trembling, Tyler stood his ground, prepared to fight even without knowing exactly what he was up against.

The creature lunged at him, claws outstretched. A split second before it made contact with him, it stopped like it'd been caught up on something, like a dog reaching the end of its leash. Its jaws snapped inches from his face and then it was yanked backwards. In its wake, he saw Chase, eyes black as night. The wolf creature flew to the side, crashing into a tree, and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. It didn't stay down for long, climbing back up and huffing angrily.

"Chase-" Tyler started.

"Stay back," Chase said, pointing in his direction while not taking his eyes off the wolf creature.

Tyler closed his mouth, taking a step back. The creature was fully focused on Chase now, but Chase was already ripping branches off trees to use as weapons, hurling them at the thing. The creature slapped away a lot of the branches, but one speared through its shoulder, causing it to howl in pain. Tyler cringed, looking away even though he knew he shouldn't because he needed to keep an eye on their enemy.

Chase, at least, kept his attention on the creature, lifting another branch with his Power and hurling it at it. The branch punched clear through the thing's chest. It swayed back and forth on its feet for a moment before collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud, blood seeping from its wounds.

"Holy shit," Tyler breathed, the black fading from his eyes. "Holy _shit_. What is that thing?"

Chase shook his head, going over to Tyler, grabbing him by the shoulders, looking him over. "Are you okay?"

Faintly, Tyler nodded. "Are _you_?"

Chase laughed breathlessly, glancing back over his shoulder. "I'm fine," he said.

Tyler peered around him, towards where the creature lay motionless. Except something was happening to it. The fur was receding, its form shrinking, and before too long it was a _person_.

"Jesus Christ, Chase, is that-" he didn't finish.

"What? A _werewolf_?" Chase said, like that was a ridiculous idea.

"What the hell else would it be?" Tyler demanded, swallowing around a lump in his throat. Had they just killed a _person_?

Stepping away from Chase, Tyler leaned forward, hands on his knees. His head was spinning and now that the adrenaline was starting to fade, he felt sick. Were werewolves real now? Or rather, had they always been? How had he been out of the loop on this, and why had they been attacked? They weren't all monsters, were they? He refused to believe that, even without knowing any werewolves or seeing any beyond the one that had just tried to kill them.

"Tyler-" Chase put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "It was either us or that thing, there wasn't any other choice."

Tyler nodded, sucking in a deep breath. He wasn't sure he believed that, but he also knew there hadn't really been a chance to reason with the werewolf. "I'm pretty sure you saved my life," he said.

"You saved mine," Chase replied, "So we're even."

Tyler didn't care if they were even or not, he just cared that they were both still alive and unhurt. "What are we going to do?"

Chase glanced over at the dead werewolf, then looked back at Tyler. "Bury the body and don't tell anyone what happened."

Straightening up, Tyler scrubbed his hands on his pants. "I have to tell Caleb, in case there's more than one," he protested.

Sighing, Chase dropped his hand away from Tyler's shoulder, picking a leaf out of his hair. It was always about Caleb with Tyler. "Fine. Tell him, then."

" _Chase_ , this is important. If these- if there's a threat, I'm going to tell them." There was no force in the world that would stop Tyler from telling the people he cared about.

"I said fine."

"It was the _way_ you said it."

Wordlessly, Chase pulled Tyler in and kissed him, letting it linger for a few moments. Tyler sighed softly, a bit of the tension fading from his shoulders. He didn't know what this meant--not the kiss, but the werewolf. Was there more than one? Was this one rogue? Was there a new threat in Ipswich?

"I'll take care of the body," Chase told him after they'd parted.

Tyler nodded, biting his tongue and resisting the urge to add that Chase was used to this kind of thing. It would have been needlessly cruel, and Chase...surprisingly didn't deserve that, especially not right now. "I'm going to call Caleb."

Making his way back to his Hummer, he slid in, leaving the door open for the fresh air. He took a few deep breaths before pulling out his phone and dialing Caleb's number.

"Tyler? Is everything alright?"

"Yes. No. I'm okay, but something happened."

"Is it Chase?" Caleb sounded concerned.

Tyler shook his head, even though Caleb couldn't see him. "No, he didn't do anything. He saved me, actually. There was a, uh...a werewolf?" He knew how it sounded, and how it sounded was crazy.

Caleb was silent for a long moment. "You're joking, right?" he said eventually.

"I'm being serious," Tyler said. "It attacked us. I don't know if there are others, or if they're all hostile, but I wanted you to know."

"Okay." Caleb took a deep breath. "Where's the werewolf now?"

Tyler hesitated. "It's dead," he admitted. "Chase killed it."

"Of course he did."

" _Caleb_. We didn't have a choice. It was trying to rip us to pieces."

"So I should be thanking Chase?"

"Probably, yeah. I told you, he saved me."

Caleb sighed. "Where is he now?"

"Taking care of the-" _body_. Tyler swallowed. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Right." Caleb understood, whether or not Tyler said it. "After, I want you to go back to your dorm and _stay_ there. No more trips to the woods or the dells or anywhere like that until we figure out what's going on."

"Okay." Tyler took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Stay safe, Ty."

"I will."

After hanging up, he took another deep breath before pocketing his phone and sliding out of the car. He hesitated though, staying close to the open door. He wasn't the type to jump at shadows, but after being ambushed by a creature that turned into a human when it died...he was a little on edge.

"Chase?" He took a step forward, one hand brushing the car door, grounding himself.

There was nothing but silence and darkness for what felt like an eternity until Chase emerged from the gloom, heading towards him.

"What'd Caleb have to say?"

"He said to stay out of the woods. And to go back to my dorm."

Chase snorted. "For once, I agree with him." Closing the distance between them, he cupped the side of Tyler's face in a hand and kissed him. "Let's get out of here."

"I should drive you home first," Tyler said, watching Chase circle around to the other side of the car.

Shaking his head, Chase climbed into the Hummer. "I'll be fine," he said.

"But it's dangerous right now," Tyler protested, getting in and locking the doors after him.

"And I'm dangerous, too." He shot Tyler a look. They both knew what he was capable of, the extent of his powers. If he hadn't been more concerned with Tyler's well being, the werewolf never would have gotten the upper hand and never would have stood a chance.

Tyler took a deep breath, starting the engine. "Alright, fine," he relented. After a moment, he added, "And thanks. For saving me."

Chase shrugged. "Seeing you hurt's the last thing I want."

"But it's still on your list."

"Under different circumstances, maybe."

Tyler glanced over at him as he pulled onto the road. "Sometimes you don't fill me with confidence."

Chase flashed a grin. "I'd rather fill you with something else."

Tyler groaned. " _Chase_." He didn't know how anyone could joke around at a time like this, or make innuendos, but this _was_ Chase they were they were talking about.

\-----

By the time Tyler made it back to his dorm room, Reid was waiting for him, pacing back and forth. As soon as Tyler was through the door, Reid pulled him into a hug, hands roaming his shoulders and back like he was looking for any obvious wounds.

"Caleb told me what happened."

"I'm okay," Tyler assured him, pulling him in for a kiss, soft and sweet.

Reid only seemed convinced after another kiss, because only then did he pull back, taking a breath. "Are you sure it was a _werewolf_?" There was an edge of disbelief in his voice, and Tyler couldn't blame him for it; he wouldn't have believed it either if he hadn't been there to see it first hand.

"I don't know what else it could've been," Tyler said, running a hand through his hair. "It changed when it...died. It was a person."

" _Shit_." Reid sat down on the edge of his bed. He had a lot of questions but he knew Tyler didn't have the answers, so he swallowed them down, shaking his head. "It wasn't anyone we know, was it?"

Tyler hesitated. "I didn't look that close," he admitted, "But I don't think so."

Reid nodded. That was something, at least. A small comfort amidst the chaos. "If anyone else told me they saw a werewolf, I'd say they were bullshitting, but not you."

"Does this _look_ like I'm bullshitting?" Tyler said, holding out his hands, which were still trembling faintly.

In response, Reid took his hands, kissing his knuckles. "I said I believed you."

"I know. It's hard to wrap my head around. Not you--this thing," Tyler clarified.

Reid tugged him closer until Tyler sat down next to him. "You went through some real shit; it's okay to be upset," Reid told him. "But we'll get through this. We always do."

Tyler nodded. "We'll figure things out," he agreed. They'd dealt with worse than a werewolf before, and now Tyler was _dating_ that 'worse'. Things would be okay.


End file.
